The Ghana Telecommunications Chamber has dismissed claims that the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Chamber have begun processes to implement the 1.5% Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy).
According to the CEO of the Chamber, Ken Ashibey, the outfit has not yet had full details of the E-levy Act after its passage to effect any implementation.
“It was only preparatory engagements that were being done and not as if anybody is implementing anything. What Parliament passes is what becomes law. In terms of the engagements we had with GRA, that was the spirit of the fact that the Bill was before Parliament. Since we had those initial conversations, there hasn’t been any implementation.
“I have not seen the Bill that has been passed, so we have not seen the date there, so it will depend on what the GRA directs for our members to follow and configure their systems. So, there is still a lot to be done, and we are still waiting,” he said.
Mr Ashigbey’s clarification comes after Mahama Ayariga alleged that the two institutions have already started the processes to charge the tax.
He subsequently asked them to put it on hold until the Supreme Court makes a decision on the Minority’s suit challenging the passage of the levy.
Meanwhile, government expects systems that will pave the way for the implementation of the E-levy to be ready by May 2022.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, who disclosed this, said there have been discussions with the Controller and Accountant General’s Department and the Ghana Revenue Authority to this effect.
“We had some meetings with the Controller General and GRA, and they have indicated to us that right at the beginning of May, they should be able to get the systems altogether,” he noted.
E-Levy
The Finance Minister, when presenting the 2022 budget on Wednesday, November 17, 2021, announced that the government intends to charge 1.75% on the value of electronic transactions.
It covers mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments, and inward remittances. There is an exemption for transactions up to GH¢100 per day.
According to him, the tax policy will “widen the tax net and rope in the informal sector.”
Initially, the proposed levy was to come into effect in January 2022; however, it took until the end of March for the levy to be laid in Parliament for consideration.
Parliament subsequently passed it in the absence of the Minority MPs, who had staged a walked out before the question was posed for the approval of the BIll.
The Minority has since filed a case at the Supreme Court questioning the legitimacy of the approved Bill.
The plaintiffs are arguing that Parliament did not have the right numbers to form a quorum for the passage of the E-levy Bill into law.
They, thus, want the passage declared void.